Experimental and analytical investigation of the ‘tension zone’ components within a steel joint at elevated temperatures

• Published in: Journal of constructional steel research 2004-06, Vol.60 (6), p.867-896
• Main Authors: Spyrou, S., Davison, J.B., Burgess, I.W., Plank, R.J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Component method; Elevated temperatures; Steel joints; T-subs; Tension zone
• ISSN: 0143-974X; 1873-5983
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcsr.2003.10.006

When steel-framed structures are subjected to fire, their ability to sustain loads is severely impaired and the action of the joints is of particular concern. To date, data on the response of steel joints at high temperatures has been gathered from full-scale furnace tests. In an attempt to establish simplified methods to estimate the full response of a steel joint at elevated temperatures the principles of the ‘component method’ have been investigated experimentally and analytically. The originality of the ‘component method’ is to consider any joint as a set of individual basic components. When a steel joint is subjected to bending it may be considered as three major zones (tension, shear and compression) with each zone sub-divided into the relevant components. The objective of the work reported herein was to investigate experimentally and analytically the tension zone within an end-plate steel joint at elevated temperatures. A series of experiments has been carried out, and these are described in the paper. Simplified analytical models of the component behaviour have been developed, and these have been validated against the tests results. Development of a suitable component model for the compression zone is the subject of a companion paper.